Dealer Why won't the dealer let us "test" drive the fel??

[megaboz]

I'm sure a lot of dealers would like to be able to do that, especially if it would increase their sales, but for the most part a lot of the dealers are small and mostly make their living off of the repair work and accessories sold.

Overhead is expensive and hopefully a dealer would know enough to ask you the right questions to hook you up with the right equipment. And if they had used equipment, the would probably let you spend some time on it, but in the end sitting on the dealers lot, would you really get a chance to know if that was the machine for you? Especially as a newbi to a tractor, I know I wouldn't have had a clue.

But either way I am glad you got what you needed.

As for some of the other posters, please try to be a little nicer to others and not be so mean or treat people like thier idiots.

 

[RayCo]

Used to sell fork lift trucks!

A 'farmer type' complete with muddy boots walked into the showroom and was totally ignored by all personnel but me.
I chatted with him a bit, answered his questions showed him a few units and determined what he would most likely need to do the job.
Long and short is that he had $25,000. in cash with him and purchased then and there.

Downside was that we were on commission and the credit went to another sales rep who had totally ignored him.

That sucks that you got screwed out of your commission, but I commend you for treating him right.

A few years back, I went to my local John Deere dealer to chat about the 2305/2310 models. The salesman made some remark like, "Oh, those are real expensive" and tried to redirect me to lawn tractors. I think he dismissed me because of my young age. So, I wound up with a Kubota.

 

[BTI]

I treat everyone the same......
I don't care who you are, which if you are a bit "better than me" you might not like LOL

In all seriousness, doesn't matter to me, I talk to everyone, even ones that have no interest in buying.
Yes it sometimes interrupts things BUT, I genuinely do enjoy it.
I know of one customer that I talked to a few years ago......
Ended up buying used, I figured I never see him again (had never seen him anyway only chatted on the phone).
Low and behold, 2 years, give or take they all run together, he calls comes down looks and buys.
You never want to dismiss anyone, it's not ALL business....maybe it's a character flaw for me LOL

I would love to give free loader demo's but unfortunately the few that really are serious about it, would not outweigh the ones thinking it's a good way to get some work around the house done.
I fell to that early in my owner days....
I didn't leave it though, customer was mad.
Said the Mahindra dealer was bringing one the next day, and Deere the day after.
Went by his place sometime later, when it was all said and one, he had been clearing and leveling the land....but it wasn't his.
His yard needed a small 0-turn, not a 45hp tractor.

We just can't afford to have that many demo units.
We normally try to have a couple of demo models we mark down but not one of every model.

BTI

 

[Big Bri]

I own a music store and while i guitars and drums are different than tractors to have people who want to take a guitar home and "try it out" we stop all that when one of the guys we "loaned" a guitar to try at "home" was on stage at a local bar with it. Turns out he does this a lot. For what little margins we work with to compete with the net its hard to make every one happy.

As far as not judging people, we treat everyone who comes in the door like their going to drop 10k. Might not get the sale that day but they will remember how we treated them and will at some time stop back and buy.

 

[WarrenF]

you obviously didn't understand my question. I believe I understood your question quite thoroughly.

I don't expect them to offer a new one, I don't expect to "test drive" at my place, I don't expect them to deliver a test tractor to me.

Sorry, but I'm going to spend $22k and to me, that's a lot of money.

What I DO expect is great customer service, helpful service, and someone to actually act like they want my money - ya know, like have a used one I can try around their yard, or at least take my name and number and let me know when they get a used model in that series so I can come out and test drive it, or a dealer who would take advantage of some extra money by renting...

There is a definite difference between a B and BX and only "test driving the fel" would tell the purchaser the difference - and I don't mean taking it for a spin around the yard. Anyways, doesn't really matter - I actually found a dealer who meets all of those "desires" and he's going to get my money.

I am not judging anyone or trying to be a knot head. Obviously some of you have never EVER been in business. You act as if the dealer is making thousands of dollars off of your sale. While I am not that well acquainted with tractor dealerships....I do have a long history of family in the auto business. Let me ask you all a simple question. If you took that $22,000 and invested in a business, what would you expect for a return on your investment. Remember you are going to be married to that business seven days a week. You will be called at all hours of the day and night by any customer who decides that you personally need to hear from them how you ripped them off.

Now your going to have customers just waiting to sue you for any and all reasons....primarily because you breathe air. Or they will want to sue you because you tried to sell them a 40 horse tractor and they decided they needed a 15 horse toy tractor, and it won't pull that stump out of their lawn.

For all of that, are you going to settle for a 3% return on your investment? Understand that you do not get a paycheck if you have a bad month, and you don't get an hourly paycheck either.

Then some customer wants to come in and "test drive" a front end loader. Sure the only one you might have is brand new....and after dealing with him for 2 hours a day for seven days.....he wants to scar up your new equipment.

Oh and by the way.....I have found that many dealers who are bold enough to tell you NO....will in the long run be the most honest to deal with. Good luck when you need some service, and get ready to bend over. I PROMISE YOU, the dealer who bends to all those crazy requests, will in the end get his comeuppance.

 

[RonVL4]

The question is! If we had something to sell would you let a guy take it home to try out? Not a chance ! Some dealers around here do when they know the guy is really serious but my dealer said he has got burnt bad in some cases?

I was fortunate enough my Kubota dealer's son is good buddy with my son and have known him for a long time. So he dropped a 2630 and said have fun and let me know when you decide.

As my test tractor was being dropped off my neighbour down the street which is a John Deere salesman went by! He called me at home later that night and offered to drop off a 2305. Which he did next morning which is the best of both world.

Did buy a Kubota but will be buying in the future and would consider the John Deere because of the effort the salesman went through. Nice guy he laughs about it and ask me to clear his driveway in winter. At night if possible when it's dark so no one sees a Kub on his driveway!

 

[RadarTech]

I had a similiar experience to Rayco...

First and foremost I went to the local Bota shop..
first think I asked was to drive one of the HST's
The owner, who was at least in his late 60s, hem hawed around and said oh you don't want to do that blah blah...
I thanked him and left.

I went and saw the, at the time new, CUB/Yanmar 3200 did not like the pedal arrangement.. and the first thing he did was put me on the tractor.
He was shocked that (the other dealer) treated me that way...

about 2 months later, I was an hour south working and went by that bota dealer. When told I was interested in a 2800/3400 he tossed me a key and said go drive it and then come see me. As I walked out, another guy went with me and I was sold!!!!

As Paul Harvey said-- and now you know the rest of the story.....

J

 

[tommyz270]

I guess my "local" dealer is just getting too much business now-a-days to deal with a home owner who doesn't know the difference between a B and BX and how they "work" and how much work they will do.

Sure, I could take it for a spin in the yard... great... I could also ride a bike around the yard.

I understand he needs to make money, but I also need to watch how I spend my money, which is why we negotiate.

Guess it was the overall attitude also... I'm actually looking forward to giving my business to this other dealer and I'll be telling everyone I know to go visit him becasue he is fair, will treat you right, and acts like he wants to do business with me.

 

[megaboz]

This debate can go on forever, and while it wold be nice, it isn't always going to happen for one reason or another. A friendly dealer does make a big difference in a purchasing decision. As for other posters, there is a lot of costs in running a business, and not all of them can handle that type of overhead, so don't be entirely mad because he can't oblige you.

I know it would have been nice on my BX24 to test drive the BH, even it if was just in the air and not in the dirt. The BH is so slow that it really isn't suited to any ditch digging jobs more than 20 feet or so.

For those that have a dealer that can do it, congrats. To those that don't, do a lot of research or try to find another dealer.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
I know it would have been nice on my BX24 to test drive the BH, even it if was just in the air and not in the dirt. The BH is so slow that it really isn't suited to any ditch digging jobs more than 20 feet or so.
<snip>

Although OT, what do you mean about "slow"? My BH70X seems to move fast for me, but I have not tried fiddling with the thing to slow it down.

 

[canoetrpr]

The Kioti dealer in my area - Lakeridge Country Equipment encouraged me to play with the backhoe on the demo CK30 he had on the yard. He had a spot setup for demos in his yard.

At the time I was very upfront with him that I wasn't very serious about replacing my L3400 but wanted to see what Kioti had to offer. I wasn't in the market for a backhoe anyway but he encouraged me to try it out.

Guess where I will be going if I want a Kioti in the future? That little playing he let me do also convinced me that I really do want a backhoe in the future. Guess where the first place is that I will go if I decide to get a backhoe attachment on my L3400?

Since then I have sent about 4-5 others his way and I think 2 have purchased tractors from him.

I think that if you are a dealer then you ought to have at least one or two demo machines to allow a serious buyer to test drive the FEL/backhoe in your own yard. I think that a small rental business on the side allows the dealer access to machines for this purpose. I would treat all that walk in your door well because you really don't know who will end up providing you or referring you business in the future. Doing anything less is short sighted IMHO.

 

[megaboz]

Although OT, what do you mean about "slow"? My BH70X seems to move fast for me, but I have not tried fiddling with the thing to slow it down.

I know, still off topic. My BX24, the backhoe does anyone task ok, but trying doing more than one movement at a time, it creeps. Like putting both stablizers down at the same time, pretty slow. Curling and swinging the boom left to right, slow. It has power, it will drag the BX all over the ground, but it is slow. The proportiong of the valves could have been better designed for what the BH costs to have. Trying to do fluid movements to get the job done like the big boy machines doesn't happen.

So now on topic, a test drive, even without digging dirt would have probably led me to not have bought the BX24 but something else, probably something bigger. My BH sits off the tractor 98% of the time (mostly because I don't have uses for it right now and the fact it raises the center of gravity to high for my property because the tractor isn't big enough) and is only used when I am waiting for my birthday to get here.

Of course some of the issues that I found BH I would never have found without testing it on my property, so again playing on a level lot somewhere would have done little good.

 

[tommyz270]

Hey megaboz, I know this is off topic, but to comment on your off topic I went to someones house who was selling their BX24 and used their machine. He would never turn the rpm's over 2,200.. I tried it at that speed and it hardly did much work.. I turned it up to 2,800/3,000 and it worked much/much better.

You probably already do this, but thought I'd offer it up since it was something I've experienced and in case you do only run it at 2,200 rpm's.

Now that I have driven and tested both the B and BX, I know for sure I'm getting the B and don't have to test the bh on the B because I'm assuming it will perform to the same level over the bx as the fel did.

 

[RayCo]

Even if I had gotten to test out my BX before buying it, I wouldn't have really gotten any true sense for what it could do, since it was my first purchase. I got more of a sense for its capabilities from reading these forums than I did from playing around with someone else's BX23 before I bought my 24. I had to own the machine and get the hours up before really knowing it.

Now, when it comes time for me to buy my next tractor, it'll be a different story.

 

[newbury]

Back on topic -
If either of the first two Kubota dealers I had visited had let me "test drive" I most likely would have bought a tractor, FEL and BH from them. But obviously they did not need the sale. They were very low key and basically said "the tractors are out front".

I'm glad they didn't.

Even though I consider my self a "smart buyer" after operating the tractor/FEL I finally bought I could have seen myself buying something for "want". After using my tractor BH combo I would have bought a much more expensive package for "lust".

To me driving a tractor around is fun. Sales value 1
Using the FEL is neat, move sand a lot faster than a shovel - Sales value 3
Using the BH to dig a 7' deep trench, move dirt deeper than I can dig - Sales value 10.

Now I don't know what Messicks or other good dealers do but if the dealers I visited just would have had a "play area" where I could of "tested" their equipment for a nominal fee (to keep out "tire kickers") the first one would have sold me.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Now I don't know what Messicks or other good dealers do but if the dealers I visited just would have had a "play area" where I could of "tested" their equipment for a nominal fee (to keep out "tire kickers") the first one would have sold me.

We usually will let people demo common machines like BX25's. However we won't throw a backhoe on an L-series for someone to play with. We do have a demo pile of dirt. Usually when we let someone do this its the people who are very close to buying and need pushed off the fence. The demo machine is usually a new tractor and the customer ends up buying that unit. With our slim margin, we can't afford to be really messing up machines because we can't offer a substantial discount beyond what we already do. About half the requests we get for demo's are guys who have work to do at home and are fishing for a free rental. You'd be surprised how few demo's really get done. Most compact buyers are not tractor pro's and seem uncomfortable operating the machine around other people. Its like pulling teeth to get some people just to drive around the parking lot.

 

[newbury]

We usually will let people demo common machines like BX25's. However we won't throw a backhoe on an L-series for someone to play with. We do have a demo pile of dirt. Usually when we let someone do this its the people who are very close to buying and need pushed off the fence. The demo machine is usually a new tractor and the customer ends up buying that unit. With our slim margin, we can't afford to be really messing up machines because we can't offer a substantial discount beyond what we already do. About half the requests we get for demo's are guys who have work to do at home and are fishing for a free rental. You'd be surprised how few demo's really get done. Most compact buyers are not tractor pro's and seem uncomfortable operating the machine around other people. Its like pulling teeth to get some people just to drive around the parking lot.

That's why I mentioned a "nominal" fee. If my closest dealer had let me "play" with the BX25 for $20 I would have known I wanted it or something bigger. I'm actually kind of glad you are not local. I probably would have spent a lot more for something I don't really need. (I'm pretty sure I need my small one for the woods and a bigger one for construction )
I knew I needed a FEL, 20 to 30hp and a 3pt. with a box blade. I knew I wanted a backhoe but did not expect the backhoe to be so much FUN.
I understand that a lot of people are looking to get something for nothing, but dealers should let the guy with cash to drive and operate a potential purchase under a modified rental arrangement.

 

[megaboz]

I think it is funny that no one is seeming to get the point. Demo a certain tractor long enough, and it is USED! Scratch it up, it is used. Which means the dealer isn't even going to make the profit he normally makes.

I am not a dealer by any chance, but I can see where they are coming from. Dealers are paying everyday for the tractor to sit on their lot usually in the form of interest. Sure if they sold the tractor as soon as it came in the lot they would be making good money (big money, probably not). It is the same for the car dealer. Until they sell the unit they are losing money.

And I don't think $20 is nominal fee, there is the whole issue of insurance and the cost of delivery, repairs, etc. Small dealers can't suck that up. A dealer can't make money just renting one or two pieces of equipment either because of the insurance.

From what I have seen there are dealers posting on here, and I think they would all love to be able to make every possible consumer happy, but they all can't.

Look at it like this, can you afford to loan/rent your tractor out and not know if it would come back in one piece? Or with 500 hours added to the meter. Or come back at all?

 

[newbury]

And I don't think

$20 is nominal fee, there is the whole issue of insurance and the cost of delivery, repairs, etc.

I was writing about "demoing" it ON the dealers property with the dealer standing by, like when you drive a demo car. So they can check that you take the parking brake off.
I was definitely not writing about delivering it etc.
Messick wrote that they had a demo tractor and a pile of dirt. If my local dealer had that I would have gladly paid a nominal fee to try out a tractor.